When a sacret plant /practice looses it's roots... (Colonializing Ceremonial Cacao)

Working in plant medicine spaces is in our opinion often not really sacred - and so we question how can it be called a ceremony then? 

Ceremony goes along with ritual,
Ritual as the action, the framework, the bridge to bring our intention into reality.

Ceremony is a space to pray, it is envoking the holiest of the holiest - for the divine to be able to touch the most vulnerable space in us. - for us, to let go of all the armour, the resentments and fears.

By working with plant medicine we often see a misconception of our western trained mind: we might think that our reactions to a substance, the so called "Active components" will magically induce that blissfull god-connection state.

Way more noticable with plant medicines like Ayahuasca but way more often with Cacao.

Drinking ceremonial Cacao doesn't make it a ceremony. Listen to Ceremonial musik neither, nor lighting a candle, incent or reciting a prayer in Sanskrit or any other language.

Rituals, words and medicine isolated from their greater context are nothing more then theater props. They may look, smell and taste like the real thing - but they don't work.

For example Yoga, the ancient method to connect to the divine went through something similar. The sacred ancient teachings, reduced into gymnastic exercises are sold as wellness. Tantra misunderstood as a sexual practice. 

As are the sacred plant medicines when taken to go on a trip, or solely for their health benefits based upon their rich components.

Our western, materialisic mind is used to regard the physical properties only - as if we could describe a person by the sum of "active" physical components...

But plant medicines like Cacao are personalities - to understand them, we need to take into consideration the environment they have grown.

Something grown in monoculture, by people living under poor conditions, sprayed with deadly chemicals and mother plants ripped out of their natural environment and treated like slaves for the profit of big companies can't be medicine.

No wonder that Tobacco, once a sacred plant medicine has made us sick. It was smoked to pray, it's high used to connect to the divine - the same with Cannabis, Peyote, sage, Coca, Datura, Mugwort, Kava, Henbane, Cacao, Coffee, Mushrooms, ...

Our western world has lost its sense for secretness. Every society build tempels for their common believes - this is building shopping malls, temples of commerce.

But what to do in times like this? 

The most important step is to free the earth from colonialism, the false righteousness of being better then anyone else and the slavery it comes with.

That's a long time ago you might think - but it is still there, deeply rooted in our culture - even in our language.

Throughout many stages of cultural and religious (r)evolutions, we succeeded to eradicate the sence of sacredness - nothing is holy anymore, knowledge is mistaken for wisdom and the righteousness of the human race over all others has lead to devastating misuse of the only thing we supposed to take care for: Earth.

There is't much left over from the way of living as our ancestors did. But looking into the few examples still alive, there is one thing they all have in common:
- the deep respect for all animals, plants, forrests, seas and mountains, air and the Earth itself...
To them they are more then just things disponible at our will. - they are beings,  persons like you and me, with feelings, language and soul.
Just because they exist in different ways - doesn't make them anything less - and when it comes to medicine plants it's quite the opposite. They are divine teachers, masters, elders - enlightened beings manifested as plant on this earth.

This might be difficult to believe, but plants are communicating. Check out e g. the work of Dr. Monica Gagliano if you want a  more scientific approach.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't use them - quite the opposite: they want to be with us and they will serve us willingly - if we do the same: being in service.

We are powerful Kings and Queens who have forgotten their purpose: to be the servant of all - not only the people, also the land and everything what is growing there. They are bridges to the divine.

Those sacred plant medicines are meant to bring us into contact with the divine - not to flee from the demands of this world and everyday life, but to serve life in alignment.

Even if our loud and noisy modern world with all its distractions doesn't make it easy to get there, but in deep contemplation, fasting and meditation we can access that divine connection - as we can through plant medicine - when it is as clean and clear.

What makes a master plant a master, a ceremony a ceremony, is the ability to bridge matter and spirit - to harmonize what is not in alignment.

This only works when the intentions putted into the soil, the care, the community around and the way of preparing , distribution and preparation are as pure as the intentions for the ceremony - otherwise we are calling in sickness and distortion.

It's medicine when the soil is healthy, when plants grow in their natural habitat, the stewands of the land and all the ones in service is taking lovingly care, the community honors their work with decent exchange and the receivers connect that long prayer from Earth to the divine.

We give exchange for the work, for all the care and help along the way - never for the medicine itself. Cacao cannot be bought - it is a gift of nature. We need to honor the peoples work and use this gift from the plant with utmost respect.

We cannot take a fruit, own a plant or it's spirit - all what we can take is care, own respect and humble work together with those masters.

There is medicine in Coca - not in cocaine.
In Poppy - not in heroine.
In Ayahuasca - not in DMT. 
In Tobacco - not in Nikon. 

The moment we loose contact with the plant, when something is isolated from its source, it cannot bring us to the source - the process, the way it went was into isolation, not into union.
It's not medicine - it has lost its spirit, it's guidance - it has been abused and might do the same to the onces using it. (note: that there of cause is grayzones and it isn’t all black and white).

Many of our traditions are mostly dead and the squeezed out residues are laying on the slaughterbanks of the supermarkets: Christmas, Easter, Halloween - Thanksgiving festivities like Octoberfest is not much more then getting drunk... Sometimes it feels like everything has been ripped out of context and devotion replaced by money - commercialized empty shells. 

It is difficult to find meaning , true spiritual connection and depth in these times, where everything is sold out, squeezed empty and consumed by bottomless hole of the so called social media.

On the other hand: nothing is for free.
There is always a price to pay: a free Cacao ceremony? Free of spirit ?
This work is real for us - we sit and plan for a long time before, we dive deep into our clients emotional state and use the years of training we had to realign them to the greater, we need to give a good exchange to all the workers for the medicine used in ceremony. Also the people stewarding the land. Also us.

Whe I hear 'free' then there is a bad aftertaste. I rather pay and don't own someone something. It stocks to me, its a depth in karma.

A gift is never for free. Not even from the plants - and especially not any plant medicine. Every gift comes with the responsibility to use it well - to be in service to the greater, to help the plant fulfilling it's purpose as it helps us.

This is sacred reprocity - to become part of the ever ongoing interchange of life - to be part in the manifestation of the great ever-birthing mother - to be an integral part of life, in harmony and health for the benefit of the greater.

Access to all this needs devotion, needs love and care, needs respect for every part of the creation we see, feel, smell and taste - all we can perceive from the outside and the inside.

With love,

Eva Maria & Stephan